Vonn looks at options to hopefully still race in a men's World Cup

Lake Louise -- Feeling weak by her lofty standards, Lindsey Vonn obliterated the field Tuesday in the first downhill training run for the Lake Louise Winterstart World Cup.

Ho hum. Business as usual.

“Every day is getting better,” the American superstar is saying, just two weeks removed from spending two nights in a Colorado hospital with intense abdominal pain. “When I cross the finish line, I’m still more out of breath than I normally would be. My legs are a little bit more tired than normal.”

Out of breath and tired, the American superstar reached speeds of 136 km/hour to cross the finish line Tuesday in a time of one minute, 52.10 seconds – .95 of a second faster than runner-up Maria Hoefl-Riesch, of Germany.

On days like these the 28-year-old Olympic gold medallist can’t help but wonder how she might fare against the best male ski racers on the planet.

“You would think in the year 2012, we could figure out a way to make it work,” said Vonn, a four-time women’s overall World Cup champion. “Gender isn’t really an issue in pretty much all aspects of life now – the workplace, most sports. Everything is all about equality…

“I think there has to be a way to put aside gender and put aside pride and ego and do something that I personally would love to do.

"And I think also would be great for the sport."

The International Ski Federation (FIS) earlier this month unequivocally denied Vonn’s request to compete in last Saturday’s men’s World Cup downhill race at Lake Louise.

With 11 victories at the only Canadian stop on the men's and women's World Cup circuit, Vonn is so dominant here that some people call the resort “Lake Lindsey” in her honour.

“No matter how the season start and no matter how I’m feeling, I can always come to Lake Louise and have a good race,” said Vonn, who tweeted a postcard-style photo of the ski resort Tuesday to her 150,653 followers.“I have confidence here. I know what I’m doing. I trust myself a lot more here than I do anywhere else.

“It’s nice to stand in the start gate and know, hey, I’ve won here a lot of times, and I know what I’m doing.”

With help from her attorney father, Vonn is exploring legal action to force FIS into allowing her to race against the men.

“It’s definitely disappointing that FIS came out and said absolutely no way,” said Vonn, who is scheduled to race Friday and Saturday in the women's downhill and Sunday in the women's super-G. “They pretty much shut me down on the basis of gender. So maybe there’s something to be found there.

“I’m doing some research, doing my homework. So we’ll see. But it’s going to take some time to get things organized and see how we approach it.”

One approach, put forward by Alpine Canada president Max Gartner, is to hold an exhibition race next winter at Lake Louise that would pit Vonn against the men with major prize money on the line.

Gartner has already broached the idea with one of Vonn’s major sponsors, Red Bull.

“Nothing is definite and everything has been just an idea,” Andrea Heuschneider, assistant head of athlete’s special projects for Red Bull, said in an email to the Herald. “The FIS has denied Lindsey's request but we will support and help Lindsey with her plans.”

According to Vonn, Plan A is to compete against the men in a sanctioned World Cup event. Plan B is to suit up for an exhibition race, like the one proposed by Gartner.

“To be honest, I really want to race in a real race,” she said. “I think the tricky part about exhibitions is while it’s still great for the sport and I think it would draw a lot of attention, it’s still different. I think the men would take it differently and the atmosphere would be different. I want to compete in an actual situation where the same points are on the line and I’m competing in a normal race. That’s what I want.

“If my only option is to race exhibition, then I will 100 per cent do that. But I’m still hoping to race in the actual World Cup.”

Opinion is divided among elite ski racer over Vonn’s push to race a sanctioned event against the men. Some, like Canada’s Manuel Osborne-Paradis, feel they earn their livelihood on the World Cup circuit, and they can’t risk losing points or start position to an outside competitor.

Others, like Canada’s Erik Guay, say FIS is missing out on a glorious opportunity to market the sport in North America.

“I’m really hoping that eventually I can get it to happen,” Vonn said. “I would absolutely love to race here with the men.

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